It has been suggested in the past that receptacles such as mailboxes into which postmen place letters and other items should be provided with some signalling means by which the owner or patron can be informed that an object has been placed in the box. Many rural mailboxes are equipped with a flag which the postman or other delivery man is supposed to raise when he puts an object into the box to indicate to the householder that he has done so. This requires a positive act on the part of the postman and, often the flags become rusty and stick or the postman does not bother to raise the flag. In addition, of course, if the patron is blind, he cannot see the raised flag and does not known that mail has been placed in the box thus requiring that he visit the box periodically to see whether anything has been delivered.
Some prior art devices include audible signalling means such as door bells or the like which are caused to ring when the box is opened and which are shut off when the box is again closed. While this may be effective to call the attention of the householder if he happens to be in the house when the mail is delivered, it does not create a long lasting signal which an absent householder will see when he returns to his home. Other devices have been suggested in which the postman is required to manually close the switch at the time he places the mail in the box which causes a bell to ring continuously until such time as the householder opens the box, removes the mail, and opens the switch.
All of these devices have some flaws in their mode of operation whether it be the postman's reluctance to have to take an extra action, the householder's inability to hear a signalling device such as a bell if he happens to be deaf, the face that the signal is given only once when the box is opened and then closed.
It is, therefore, the object of the instant invention to provide a simple device having a circuit which is closed when the box is opened by the postman to place mail in the box, which sets up a circuit that is held in until the householder takes some positive action to disable the circuit and which provides for either visible or audible signals of the fact that the mailbox has been opened.
It is yet another object of the instant invention to provide a signalling device for a mailbox or similar receptacle which does not indicate to a passer-by that mail or other objects have been placed in the box, as is done when a signal flag is raised by the postman, and yet positively indicates to the householder that someone has opened the box and, therefore, that there probably is something in the box which the householder should collect.
It is yet another object of the instant invention to provide a signalling device for a remotely located mailbox such as a rural mailbox which automatically is actuated when the box is opened, and provides either a visible or an audible signal to the householder that the box has been opened; the device having means for disabling or reseting the signalling means when the householder notices that the signal has been energized, thus obviating the necessity for the householder to make frequent trips to the mailbox to ascertain whether or not mail has been delivered and resulting in the saving of considerable effort as well as conserving energy by eliminating the frequent opening and closing of the doors when the householder makes trips to the mailbox.